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(Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)
What happened to Bud Light after its brief yet costly association with Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney was the biggest beer story of 2023, and it’s not even close.
The brewery’s brief online promotion with Dylan Mulvaney set in to motion a cascade of Bud Light stories that continued throughout the year and American Craft Beer did its best to keep you up on each stage of things.
So to recap how things played out we’ve assembled most of of our Bud Light stories in rough chronological order, following Dylan Mulvaney’s April 1st social media announcement…
INTEREST IN SAMUEL ADAMS BEER SURGES DURING DYLAN MULVANEY BUD LIGHT CONTROVERSY
Bud Light’s decision to showcase the Trans Tik Tok activist on a special can spurred a Boycott Bud Light! online campaign, a video of Kid Rock shooting up a bunch of bud light beer cans that went viral, and a huge surge in online interest in the Samuel Adams Beer.
BUD LIGHT MARKETING VP TAKES “LEAVE OF ABSENCE” AMID TRANS CONTROVERSY
It was inevitable in light of the fallout from the Bud Light Trans controversy. Heads had to roll. But even this action reflects the political tightrope that Anheuser-Busch has been walking.
BUD LIGHT SALES PLUNGE CONTINUES IN WAKE OF TRANS CONTROVERSY
Amid the backlash, AB’s market capitalization has dropped nearly $6billion in 10 days, a decline of nearly 5%, as the company remained relatively silent save for a short statement confirming the partnership.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH STOCK DOWNGRADED AS BUD LIGHT TRANS CRISIS CONTINUES
“It’s not just a Bud Light issue,” Bump Williams, chief executive of Bump Williams Consulting, told the NY Post. “It’s an Anheuser-Busch portfolio problem now.”
BUD LIGHT BEER PRONOUNCED “SICK” GOING INTO MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY
On April 14th, almost two weeks after Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram announcement, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a formal statement (without specifically addressing its partnership with the trans activist) that failed to put the matter to rest.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH LOSES PERFECT LGBTQ+ RATING FROM HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
The hits just keep on coming for Anheuser-Busch in the wake of the Bud Light Trans controversy that refuses to go away.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH EXEC SEES TRANS CONTROVERSY AS ”WAKE-UP CALL” FOR BUD LIGHT
On June 18th beer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s global Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Marcondes appeared at the Cannes Lions International Festival where the company was ironically receiving an award for 2022 “Creative Marketer of the Year.”
BUD LIGHT DETHRONED AS AMERICA’S #1 BEER AS TRANS CONTROVERSY BOILS
Modelo surpasses Bud Light for the first time since 1982.
BUD LIGHT OFFERS WHOLESALERS FREE BEER TO EASE TRANS CONTROVERSY TENSIONS
Following the backlash over its partnership with Tran’s influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light is gifting a case of free beer to all its wholesale distributors.
BILL GATES MAKES $95 MILLION BEER BET ON BUD LIGHT
Despite having admitted in the past he is “not a big beer drinker, Microsoft Founder, and one of the world’s richest men, bought big into Anheuser-Busch last summer.
BILL GATES’ $95M BET ON BUD LIGHT BEER LOSES MILLIONS
Enough said…
ANHEUSER-BUSCH LAYS OFF HUNDREDS IN WAKE OF BUD LIGHT TRANS CONTROVERSY
Anheuser-Busch is positioning this action as a straightforward corporate restructuring, it’s hard to divorce the timing of this announcement from the sales slump resulting from its costly partnership with Trans activist Dylan Mulvane
BEER BIZ EXPERT – BUD LIGHT FANS MAY BE “LOST FOREVER”
“We’ve never seen anything like this in the beer industry,” one beer business expert is saying. “I think the industry thought it would have rebounded by now.”
MODELO BEER SALES SOAR AS BUD LIGHT PLUMMETS
Modelo’s business is on a roll in the wake of Bud Light’s association with a transgender influencer
PR FIRM BEHIND BUD LIGHT BEER TRANS DISASTER FIRES TOP EXECS
Heads are continuing to roll after Bud Light’s brief yet ultimately costly partnership with Trans activist, Dylan Mulvaney.
BUD LIGHT STRUGGLES WHILE MOLSON COORS BEERS ON THE RISE
It’s a tale of two cities, the nation’s #1 and #2 brewers. Anheuser-Busch is still hurting from its short-lived partnership with trans influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, while Molson Coors beer brands are benefiting from it.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH OFFERS DISTRIBUTORS BIG INCENTIVES TO KEEP BUD LIGHT IN STOCK
Used to be Bud Light owned retail shelves in the US. But with its declining sales in the wake of its partnership with Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney those shelves are opening up and Anheuser-Busch making big dollar moves to make sure it stays visible.
DOES BUD LIGHT BEER HAVE A MASCULINITY PROBLEM?
It must not be lost on Bud Light that their alliance with a transgender activist has alienated many of their core consumers (primarily men) who aren’t necessarily even political, but just not comfortable with Dylan Mulvaney’s journey being associated with the beer they identify with.
BUD LIGHT FALLS TO NO. 3 MORE THAN YEAR AFTER DYLAN MULVANEY CONTROVERSY
In year-to-date numbers that ended July 6, 2024 Modelo accounted for 9.3% of beer dollar sales in U.S. stores. Michelob Ultra accounted for 7.1%, and Bud Light fell to the No. 3 spot with 7.0%, an analysis of NielsenIQ data shows.
“They haven’t done a good job of climbing out of this ditch at all,” former Anheuser-Busch President of Operations Anson Frericks said on Fox Business’s Cavuto: Coast to Coast….
“I think the biggest problem is that they’ve lost trust with their customers,” he added, “and until they restore that trust, I don’t think that this brand is gonna turn around and get back to growth anytime soon.”
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(Landing page image: Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)
